They Called Me the “Ugly High School Graduate” in Front of Everyone — and My Family Expected Me to Smile and Accept It

it was evidence of a deficiency in character rather than an excess of hormones.

“Lucy, you should try harder with your appearance,” my mother said constantly, the way you might remind someone to take out the trash—casually, repeatedly, as though the problem were laziness rather than biology.

My father addressed the issue differently. He addressed it continue reading …